A Penchant for Mischief [Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons Hogwarts AU]

Prologue

Doing my best to strip out the transphobic, ableist and racist aspects of HP canon and actually make this world properly inclusive for everyone. However, if you do come across something problematic in any of my works, please let me know and I will work on better educating myself on the topic to avoid perpetuating harmful portrayals of underrepresented persons and communities.

---------

September 1st

Despite the fact that he was rather tall for an eleven year old, the large, old-fashioned leather trunk that Jack towed behind him was large enough for him to fit into. Struggling to keep up with his guide, he wove in and out of the crowd, and nearly crashed into the big bearded man when he halted suddenly.

"This is it," His guide announced in a thick Russian accent.

The man's name was North, and Jack had only known him for about a week, but that fateful meeting had completely changed Jack's life. Because North was a teacher at a boarding school for special children. Magical children, just like Jack.

Because Jack was a boy who had been shuffled from foster home to foster home since he was only a toddler and labelled as a 'problem child' for causing mischief that he didn't always have an explanation for. And now, he had a reason for it all, a reason why he'd never quite fit in. And he finally had a place where he would belong: Hogwarts.

But as he studied the twin trains before him, he couldn't help but feel disappointed by the two sleek aluminium bodies. He wasn't quite sure what he'd been expecting, but he knew that it wasn't that. Modern in design and nearly identical save for the paint job, neither train looked like the type of vehicle to stop at a magical school.

And for a moment, he had an empty, sinking feeling in his gut, as though expecting his social worker to appear suddenly and ask if he'd finally learned his lesson about playing tricks on people.

But instead, North gave him a broad grin and gestured to the brick wall between the two platforms. "After you."

Jack furrowed his brow, unsure of what North wanted him to look at.

"Is platform nine and three-quarters," North said, gesturing to the signs above them that read platform 9 and 10.

And with a deep breath, Jack stepped forward, stretching out his hand towards the brick wall, half expecting the bricks to jump aside like they had done behind the Leaky Cauldron, when North had taken him to purchase his school supplies several days prior. But where his eyes told his body he should feel the rough texture of the red bricks against his fingertips, he felt only air as his hand vanished into the wall.

With a sudden gasp of surprise, he grinned and stepped forward, pulling his trunk in its entirety through the magical barrier and onto platform nine and three-quarters.

His brown eyes wide and his mouth agape, he found himself staring at the big red and black steam engine that sat on the tracks. The Hogwarts Express. It certainly stood apart from every other train at King's Cross Station, in both its' appearance and its' secluded platform. Now this looked like the type of train that stopped at magical schools.

Trunks just like Jack's were piled up on the platform as train attendants began to load them one by one. Families milled around, mums and dads bidding their children farewell as they boarded the train that would take them to school, going over their checklists one last time and delivering last minute parting gifts.

"Good luck," North said, putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. Stooping to bring himself closer to Jack's level, North had an amused look in his cheerful blue eyes as he handed the boy a ticket. "You are staying out of trouble this day, yes?"